


Tick Tick Boom

by NerdofSpades



Series: Open Doors [12]
Category: Assassination Classroom, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Aggravated assault, Anger Management, Finals, Gen, Manipulation, Principle Asano's quirk, injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-03
Updated: 2019-10-03
Packaged: 2020-11-22 22:55:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20882018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NerdofSpades/pseuds/NerdofSpades
Summary: Second Trimester finals. Their last test of junior high. A final show down between two monsters, with the students caught in the middle. Izuku knows something will go wrong. He knows exactly what's going to go wrong. The only question is whether or not he can avoid Bakugou long enough to make it out unscathed.





	Tick Tick Boom

**Author's Note:**

> Hhnnnn... Titrations are stressful.

“You are now ready place within the top fifty, return to the main building, and graduate from class E!” Korosensei announced from the front of the classroom. The determination and bloodlust spiked. They were going to do it.

“Are you sure it’s going to be that easy?” Sugino-kun asked, leaning back in his chair. Izuku supposed that was a good point, Asano-san wasn’t going to go down easy. “I heard class A got a new teacher,” he continued, catching the classes attention. “Board Chairman Asano, if what I heard was right.”

Oh, that was bad. Izuku knew he wasn’t the only one thinking that. The fear in the room was almost palpable, but he knew they weren’t afraid for the same reason he was. They had learned to fear the Chairman and what he’d do to them for the sake of his ideals. They weren’t considering the students of class A.

“Really now?” Korosensei mused. “At long last…”

A final confrontation. At least, as far as the _school_ went. Between Korosensei and Asano-san. Between class E and class A. The Chairman had shaped this class as much as Korosensei and Karasuma-sensei had, if only in the other direction. He caused problems while they showed them to solutions and hardened their resolve. He reminded them of weakness, while they nurtured strength.

“Man, I’d never want to be brainwashed by him,” Mimura-kun muttered. “He has this weird charisma about him and the words and insight to take advantage of it.” He snorted. “His lessons are even so good he can keep up with our Mach 20 monster.”

“You don’t know the half of it,” Izuku muttered, head bowed. “His quirk… in a way, it works in our favor. He’ll exhaust them.”

“His quirk?” Nagisa-kun asked.

Izuku looked up and nodded. “His quirk… we’ve seen it a few times before. During the baseball game. He can… he can instill an artificial bloodlust in someone. He makes them angry and… it- it’s like-”

“A rotten and violent bloodlust,” Korosensei finished for him.

“Yeah.” Izuku glanced around the room at their confused faces. “It might be wise to avoid class A leading up to the test. Most of them should be fine. He shouldn’t push them so far that they’ll actually lose control and lash out, but trying to target and balance for that many people at once will mess with his control. If he under does it, he won’t get what he wants for most of the class, but if he over does it…”

“He’ll make a ticking time bomb” Karma-kun finished, looking Izuku in the eye. He’d caught on to what Izuku was worried about. _Who_ Izuku was worried about.

“That is a concern, but not one we can do anything about,” Korosensei conceded. “You’ll just have to watch out for each other for now and do try to keep yourselves out of trouble.”

The class rumbled their assent. Korosensei was right, like always. They couldn’t do anything about Asano-san’s quirk or his lessons for class A. They could, however, prepare for their battle.

* * *

Katsuki didn’t know what was going on. His skin itched and burned, and his temper had grown shorter with each passing day. Most of the time he was fine, but then out of nowhere, he’d be seconds away from blowing something up… or seconds after. That one happened the most when he was trying to study for exams.

So yeah, he was angry, and he didn’t know why. His parents were even talking about getting him to take some anger management lessons or something. The idea that he needed some shrink to tell him how to control himself only made him angrier. He’d had perfect control over his quirk since he was six. He didn’t need help.

Which is why he was out on a jog, getting some fresh air and burning off some of his restless energy. If he blew up at the Old Hag one more time, there would be nothing he could say that would stop them from signing him up for the dumbass therapy.

Something rattled in the mass of junk to his left. Katsuki froze. Who the hell would be in a fucking junkyard? It wasn’t even an official junkyard, so no one worked in there either.

Well, only one way to find out.

Katsuki wandered along the edge of the former beach looking for an opening in the trash. It took a few minutes, but he did eventually find a wide path through the mountains of trash. He didn’t know if it was because the people that dumped shit here liked being able to hide their shit deeper inside, or if whoever he’d heard had cleared these paths for themselves. Maybe both? It wasn’t important. The opening was farther down from where he’d heard the movement, so whoever it was should be somewhere to his left still. Provided they hadn’t moved.

Now that he thought about it, didn’t these piles of shit use to be taller? Was someone really wasting their time trying to clean out this hell? Fucking dumbass decision if you asked him. The assholes that left their trash would just keep dumping no matter what happened.

Following his memory and his ears, Katsuki carefully navigated the maze of abandoned crap, careful to never touch anything. He wasn’t about to lose what time he had to train for UA’s exams because he was a dumbass that got tetanus or who knew whatever the hell else was hiding in this place. Could get the fucking plague for all he knew. No fucking way was he going to take that risk.

He rounded the final corner and froze. His anger reared its ugly head again, blood pounding in his ears. His breathing turned ragged in an instant. Why? Because _motherfucking Deku_ was there in front of him, pushing around some stupid metal filing cabinet over the sand. One of the damn upstarts from 3-E that didn’t know their fucking place. The _original_ upstart that didn’t know his place. The bastard _Deku_ that thought he could do something without a quirk. That thought he could _be a hero, go to fucking UA_ without a quirk. Here he as moving trash around a fucking beach like he was actually going to do something. Here he was working on some pointless project instead of studying like he thought he could score high enough to get anywhere without putting in the fucking effort. Like he was _better_.

“_Deku!”_ Katsuki roared, reveling in the way the damn nerd’s head snapped up and the blood drained from his face in an instant. His hands sparked and crackled.

“B-bakugou!” Deku stammered, stumbling back, away from the cabinet. And that only made Katsuki even angrier. All these years he’d told the piece of shit to stop using the stupid nickname and he drops it when he finally starts doing something to be worth the attention. Who was he to say anything?

Katsuki saw red and screamed. A haze of anger slammed over his mind, leaving him only barely aware of his limbs moving, of his hands sparking, of the reason for his anger.

Suddenly, everything stopped. Another voice broke through the blood red haze and the anger faded in an instant. Katsuki felt the blood drain from his face as he stumbled backwards.

Deku was breathing heavily, his face set and eyes cold. He was in a fighting stance. A well-practiced one at that. He had burns littering his arms and legs. His loose shirt was scorched and had a hole in it and _was that blood!?_ The blood was seeping slowly through the side of Deku’s shirt and leaking sluggishly from his temple and split lip. Sand and grit covered him, covered them both. Had they been wrestling on the ground?

Katsuki wasn’t in good shape either. Something wet dripped from his aching (probably broken) nose. Most of his body complained at his movement like it was one massive bruise, and his arms had a special deep ache that was associated with overusing his quirk.

“Midoriya-shounen!?” the voice called out again.

He’d lost control. He…

Deku was slowly sliding out of his stance and loosening his muscles as he realized Katsuki wasn’t going to attack again. His face softened. “Bakugou?” he said quietly. Softly. Like Katsuki was some kind of wild animal. Maybe he was.

His gaze dropped down to his hands, red and raw from the constant abuse of his own explosions.

“Midoriya-shounen?” the voice was right behind him. Where he’d started this mess. Shit. He couldn’t… he couldn’t have this on his record.

Katsuki gave Deku the angriest look he could muster through the numbing fear and bolted. He scrambled around the piles, running desperately away from whatever the hell had come over him. Running from the consequences of his anger.

* * *

“Midoriya-shounen!” Yagi-san called as he approached Izuku, eyes flicking between Izuku and where Bakugou had disappeared. “Are you alright?”

Izuku nodded. “Yeah. I’ll be fine.”

Yagi-san was halfway through nodding and accepting the answer when he stopped and gave Izuku a disappointed look. “Midoriya-shounen, I’m sorry, but you look anything but fine.” Well, at least Izuku had Yagi-san’s full attention now, so he wouldn’t be going after Bakugou. Bakugou should have ample time to disappear. “We should get you to the hospital. Did you get a good look at him?”

There went that plan. “Th-that won’t be necessary Yagi-san. I’m fine really.”

“Midoriya-shounen, I have seen plenty of wounds in my time, please do not lie to me.” Wow, All Might’s disappointment hurt. Izuku couldn’t help shrinking in on himself.

“Please, don’t press charges,” Izuku said quietly, watching his feet. “He wasn’t… he wasn’t in control of his actions.”

“And how would you know that?”

Izuku didn’t answer.

Yagi-san watched him closely. “Let’s get going.”

“Please, All Might.”

Yagi-san sighed. “We’ll avoid the hospital for now, if it’ll get you to let someone look at you.” He poked Izuku’s shoulder. “Going to a hospital in this state would require a statement. I know someone else who can help. We’ll talk more about what we’re doing after you’ve been looked at.”

Izuku straightened his back, beaming at his mentor. “Thank you, Yagi-san!”

Yagi-san shook his head. “Don’t thank me yet, my boy. You still have some explaining to do.”

Izuku couldn’t really bring himself to care. He had won the first step. Yagi-san was at the very least open to listening to him.

Yagi-san pulled out his phone while he herded Izuku into his truck. The call was quick and short, and Izuku couldn’t make out much of anything on the other end. “Here,” Yagi-san said, holding out a clean cloth. “Put this on your wound.” Izuku fought back the urge to roll his eyes and took the cloth, pressing it to his side and holding it there. He wasn’t even bleeding that badly. He was more concerned about his bones. He was pretty sure he didn’t get a concussion from Bakugou, but that was something to be worried about as well, given his increased risk.

The drive was short and quiet. Neither of them spoke as Yagi-san quickly and deftly wove through the traffic towards their destination.

Towards UA.

Izuku stared, jaw hanging open, at the tall glistening towers of his dream school. “Come, Midoriya-shounen,” Yagi-san said as he ushered Izuku out of the car and through the gates. Izuku winced at Yagi-san’s cold tone. He knew the older hero wouldn’t be happy with him for refusing to answer questions, but he hadn’t expected it to set in this fast.

Izuku followed Yagi-san through the hallways, wincing as pain began blooming across his body, adrenaline fading quickly. Izuku clamped his mouth shut and bit back any whimpers and groans that tried to work their way out as they walked through the building.

Yagi-san stopped outside a door with a sign reading “nurse’s office” above it. “Midoriya-shounen, please, while we’re here, do as you’re told and don’t argue with her.”

Izuku cocked his head to the side. “Her…?”

“Please, just tell me you’ll do what she tells you to.”

Izuku nodded. Better not to piss off UA’s resident doctor… right, Recovery Girl. Yeah, definitely going to avoid pissing her off.

Yagi-san knocked on the door. The door quickly slid open to reveal a very angry looking short old woman. A very angry retired heroine that know worked as a nurse at UA and had to deal with heroes-in-training and their mishaps on a regular basis.

“Get inside,” Recovery Girl-sensei grumbled, stepping aside as she leveled an annoyed glare at Izuku.

Izuku gulped and stepped inside. He was starting to regret this. Yagi-san followed silently behind and closed the door behind them as Izuku was quickly led to one of the beds.

“All right, now, let me see the damage. What hurts?”

“Um, just about everything?” Izuku answered, face suddenly paling when Recovery Girl-sensei leveled another glare at him. “Uh, most of it just feels like bruising, honestly. Uh, my chest and side are pretty bad,” he continued, gesturing to the bloody side. “My head hurts. I don’t think I have a concussion, but it can’t hurt to check. Um, my left shin and ankle also got hit pretty bad. I think that’s all of it.”

“Do you have a history of head injuries?”

Izuku nodded. “I got a concussion earlier this year.”

“How did you get that?” Recovery Girl-sensei asked, approaching with a small kit of first aid supplies. “Take off your shirt and pants, I’m going to need to check for anything you didn’t mention.”

Izuku nodded and started pulling off his workout clothes. “Uh, my school had hired a new gym teacher. He had some… not so great ideas about how to teach us,” he said. Yagi-san made a strangled noise from the chair he had claimed off to the side. “He doesn’t work there anymore,” Izuku quickly added on.

“I should hope not!” Yagi-san exclaimed. “Giving a student a concussion!”

Yeah, Izuku wasn’t going to tell them he had deliberately provoked the attack. That definitely did not need to be said.

Izuku blinked down at the old woman with rubber gloves on. For all that she was ready to give Izuku a quick check up, she hadn’t actually done anything yet. “Recovery Girl-sensei?” Izuku asked.

Recovery Girl-sensei shook her head and returned to her desk. She pulled a camera out of her desk and a simple ruler. “Can you stand?”

Izuku sputtered. “Y-yes, but is this really necessary?”

“Midoriya-shounen…”

“Toshinori said this is from an assault, yes? Then I am going to document this. If you really have a problem with it, the pictures won’t go anywhere. Now, on your feet.”

Izuku gulped again and complied, and Recovery Girl-sensei set to work documenting what injuries were visible on the surface, taking pictures and using the ruler for scale. When she was done, she had him sit back down and began lightly poking at him, looking for broken bones or cracked ribs. Izuku hissed as she pressed a spot on his ribs just above the burn. “Definitely cracked,” Recovery Girl-sensei said, mostly to herself. “We won’t be able to do much to document that, given we don’t have an x-ray machine is getting maintenance done over the weekend _when I shouldn’t have had any patients_.” That last part at the very least was aimed at Yagi-san. Or maybe just the world in general. “Given that you’re here, I’m assuming you don’t want to go to the hospital.”

Izuku nodded again. Recovery Girl-sensei nodded back. “Then let’s get you patched up and start you healing. Then you can tell us what’s going on.”

Izuku didn’t have time to feel afraid of the coming questions before Recovery Girl-sensei was cleaning and bandaging his wounds. He swore she was taking pleasure in his pain as she disinfected him and washed away the blood. A spare change of clothes and a kiss on the cheek later, Recovery Girl-sensei stepped away from a slumped and exhausted Izuku. “He’s all yours, Toshinori.”

Right. Here came the hard part. “Midoriya-shounen, what happened?”

Izuku shrugged. “I was cleaning up the beach. He showed up and attacked me. You came back. He snapped out of it and left.”

“Snapped out of it? You said he wasn’t in control earlier as well.”

Izuku bit his lip. “He… he wasn’t acting like himself. Even at his worst, he’s never done anything like that. He’s not that impulsive, no matter how angry he gets.”

“Oh, so you know him?”

Izuku didn’t answer.

“Midoriya-shounen, you need to trust us.”

Izuku snorted but said nothing.

Yagi-san sighed and glanced over at Recovery Girl-sensei. “If he wasn’t in control of his actions,” Recovery Girl-sensei said, not even looking up from her paperwork, “that can be verified.”

“I doubt they’d listen to me. Won’t matter anyway if no one presses charges.”

“Much more force and he could have punctured your lung!” Recovery Girl-sensei snapped. “He could have easily taken out your eye!”

“And I still wouldn’t blame him for it. I’m not going to ruin his life because someone else was messing with him.” Izuku took a breath to calm down. “He probably doesn’t even know it,” he muttered.

“What makes you say that?” Yagi-san asked gently.

Izuku winced. He hadn’t meant to say that last part out loud. Damn muttering. “He… he looked confused when you snapped him out of it. And terrified. He knows the implications. He knows what’ll happen if word gets out. He’s probably sitting at home waiting for a knock on the door. I won’t do that to him. He’s… well, he’s not exactly what I’d call a good person. He’s got a lot of faults, but he would never risk doing permanent harm to someone.”

Yagi-san sighed and shared another look with Recovery Girl-sensei. “Well, as extensive as these injuries are,” she said slowly, “it is technically your choice, or your guardian’s, as to whether or not to press charges. And seeing as you’re unwilling to talk about it… we won’t interfere.”

“Your mother, on the other hand…” Yagi-san cut in.

Izuku paled. That would be a problem. There was no way his mom wouldn’t want to press charges. No way she wouldn’t know exactly who to blame.

“If someone comes with a court order for the records, they’ll get them. That’s as much as I’ll do,” Recovery Girl-sensei continued. “You should probably head home, Midoriya-kun. And make sure you get lots of rest.” She offered him some gummies.

Izuku nodded, rising to his feet and accepting a small handful of gummies. “Thank you, Recovery Girl-sensei.”

She grunted and waved him off.

“Come on, Midoriya-shounen. Let’s get you home.”

“I-I can walk,” Izuku offered.

Yagi-san shook his head. “I’ll drive you.”

Izuku gnawed on his newly healed lip. “Can you at least drop me off outside?” he asked. “I don’t think my mom would react well to me having spent a significant amount of time with a strange man she doesn’t know.”

Yagi-san hesitated. “All right,” he conceded. “But you will be telling her what happened.”

Izuku nodded vigorously, internally celebrating his victory. “Of course, All Might!”

* * *

“Don’t worry, Mom. It was just a little training accident. Just got myself bandaged up, good as new!”

“All right, if you say so, sweetie…”

_She can’t press charges if she never finds out._ Izuku carefully hid the twinge of pain in his side whenever he moved. As much as Recovery Girl-sensei had healed him, her quirk could only do so much.

* * *

“Naomasa, my friend, how are you?”

_"Toshinori, don’t play coy with me. What do you want?”_

Toshinori sputtered into the phone, then sighed in defeat. “I need you to look into something. Don’t open a case file, just… do some digging.”

_“Sure,”_ Naomasa answered quickly, _“but you owe me dinner.”_

“Deal, tomorrow night work for you?”

_“Sure, it’ll be good to catch up with you.”_

“Then I’ll see you then.”

Naomasa laughed on the other end. _“Now, what do you need me to look into?”_

**Author's Note:**

> 1- Yes, Bakugou is scared as shit. We'll get into some of that later.  
2- No, All Might is not letting this go. He's not doing anything, but he's not letting it go either.


End file.
